Last Week's Climate News - March 6th, 2023

Here's what happened last week

Alaska’s North Slope where ConocoPhillips wants to build a new oil project

Top news stories last week

• Climate activists are making a final push to block an oil project in the Arctic that Biden plans to approve later this month.

• Small modular nuclear company, NuScale, told its customers that one of its first projects will cost 50% more than expected. Its six 77-MW reactors will now cost $9.3 billion, which translates to a jump from $58 to $89 per megawatt-hour.

• Republicans passed a bill aiming to overturn a federal ESG retirement investing rule. It passed the Senate with the help of Sen. Manchin and Tester. But Biden plans to veto it.

• A study found that students ate 9% less meat after hearing a talk on its negative environmental impacts.

• Mississippi passed a bill restricting electric car dealerships. The bill is expected to hurt EV sales and the economy in the state.

• A study found that no birds were struck by offshore wind blades over the course of a two year survey. 

• Biden’s administration released a proposal to limit plastic pollution. Environmental groups say it is “underwhelming” in part because it doesn’t recommend reducing plastic production.

• Illinois joined New York and California in preventing local governments from banning clean energy projects.

• A new study found that wildfires in the world’s most northerly forests released a record amount of CO2 in 2021. The authors warn, “Boreal forests could be a time bomb of carbon.”

• West Virginia approved a $105 million grant to support a Form Energy iron-air battery factory in a former steel town. 

Popular non-news stories last week

• A Gold Mine of Clean Energy May Be Hiding Under Our Feet

• The World Is Finally Cracking Down on ‘Greenwashing’

• The world promised to phase out fossil fuel subsidies. Instead, it doubled them.

• When it comes to climate footprints, rich people in the United States are in a class of their own.

• How a $6B transmission project made it in New York

• Inside the fierce debate over clean hydrogen, with $100 billion in federal subsidies on the line

• Here’s Proof That Gas Stoves Are Overrated

Chart of the week

According to an analysis by Bloomberg, banks are still lending more money to fossil fuel projects than low-carbon projects. Here’s where the biggest banks in the world are lending money: 

One last thing: I’d love your feedback

For the last month I’ve been writing weekly summaries of climate-related news. I’ve tried a few different formats, including this week’s edition which has less text and more quick bullet points.

I’d love to hear what you think of the news summaries. Should I keep sending them? If so, is there anything you’d like to see more or less of?

Respond to this email or comment below to let me know what you think.